Who can claim to be the inventor of the Coney Dog? Well, this controversy centers around Michigan: Jackson and Detroit. This quarrel follows Macedonian immigrants who had passed through Ellis Island in the early 1900’s. Join Chuck and I as we taste our way to the truth about who brought […]
Yearly Archives: 2024
39 posts
Did you know that the original Mackinaw City ferry dock still exists? This had been part of the floating Michigan highway built nearly one hundred years ago! Join us as we maneuver the Mackinac Straits and peek into this corridor of commerce dating back from the Anishinaabe to modern day. […]
Did you know that Grand Rapids had been the first city in the world to have commercial electric lighting service? I had no idea of this amazing, local history! My husband, Chuck, had been walking along the Grand River last Tuesday, August 20th when he came upon a curiously large […]
Standing on a reef of limestone, off the shore of Alpena, Michigan is the second oldest lighthouse in Lake Huron, Thunder Bay Island Lighthouse. The treacherous reef has earned the label “Shipwreck Alley.” This island has been draped in stories of human tragedy and heroism. All of these tales are […]
Did you know that there had been a Great Black Swamp southwest of Lake Erie? In 1813 a soldier had written that his “comrades slogged through water six inches deep, underlain by ice. Often the ice broke, dropping them neck-deep in the swamp.” Can you even imagine being stuck in […]
“Imaginary Friends Stay Free” Last May as we had been driving along Highway 2 in Michigan’s upper peninsula, Chuck and I simultaneously read, “Imaginary Friends Stay Free” on The Colonial Motel sign. We each repeated the line with laughter. Chuck had quickly turned around and pulled into the parking lot. […]
Did you know that Michigan had thirty-one POW Camps during WWII? That’s right. Camp Lakewood, near Allegan, had housed two hundred-fifty Italian and German soldiers. These men had been treated well and were paid for their work at area farms and businesses. Join Chuck and I as we search for […]
Did you know there’s a multi-use recreation trail from Kalamazoo to South Haven? Through the effort of many and the resistance of some, this retired rail line had been reimagined into the linear park it is today. This rail line is FULL of crazy, curious history! Join us as we […]
Did you know that the Jackson Train Depot in Michigan is the oldest continuously operating train station in our nation? In the mid 1800’s brave stories of strength had taken place here as the Jackson community had rallied around freedom seekers who had been escaping slavery. The founder of The […]
As the Thea G. blew her horn, energy zipped through me as if I was seven years old. Being close to freighters has always given me a thrill! This aerial lift bridge at the Duluth-Superior Port had set my mind to wondering as Chuck and I observed freighters passing through. […]